Kristen Wiig is the kind of actor who doesn't let her ego get in between her and her character. Which means that, in "Bridesmaids", she is so good because she isn't afraid of laughing at herself or, to better put it, at her character, Annie Walker, a 30-something who is currently failing at the most important sides of her life and who is asked by Lillian, her lifelong best friend, to be her bridesmaid. Annie is delighted, but will soon have to face hard competition from Lillian's new friend and contender to the best friend title, classy and beautiful Helen.
The whole movie is a series of misadventures starring Annie, who manages to ruin every step of Lillian's wedding arrangements, as well as her own living arrangements and her barely extant love life. Of course, everything will end up nicely and happily for everyone involved.
Though I'm not precisely a fan of the Apatow factory's kind of gross humor style -and this is also quite present in "Bridesmaids"-, I enjoyed this movie, and I think it stands out, because it works well on many different levels. If, like me, you don't much appreciate gross, in-your-face jokes involving natural bodily functions, for example, you can still enjoy "Bridesmaids" because, for instance, it makes fun of the many clichés that Hollywood rom-coms have been pushing down our throats (and into our brains) for decades; it also makes fun of the stereotypical chick-flick heroine (Annie is cute in a girl-next-door fashion, sweet, and has her own style, but she is approachable and she is definitely quite real; she is awkward and acts silly or downright stupid sometimes, which we all do) and of the real things that real men and women do in real life. It also has good comedy dialogue and a nice message at the end -it's not a mere sequence of funny sketches. The characters are real and there is a story behind the whole thing.
Besides, the whole cast is great and you can tell everyone loved being in this movie. For me personally, it was especially delightful to see Rose Byrne in her role.
My score: 8 stars out of 10.
The whole movie is a series of misadventures starring Annie, who manages to ruin every step of Lillian's wedding arrangements, as well as her own living arrangements and her barely extant love life. Of course, everything will end up nicely and happily for everyone involved.
Though I'm not precisely a fan of the Apatow factory's kind of gross humor style -and this is also quite present in "Bridesmaids"-, I enjoyed this movie, and I think it stands out, because it works well on many different levels. If, like me, you don't much appreciate gross, in-your-face jokes involving natural bodily functions, for example, you can still enjoy "Bridesmaids" because, for instance, it makes fun of the many clichés that Hollywood rom-coms have been pushing down our throats (and into our brains) for decades; it also makes fun of the stereotypical chick-flick heroine (Annie is cute in a girl-next-door fashion, sweet, and has her own style, but she is approachable and she is definitely quite real; she is awkward and acts silly or downright stupid sometimes, which we all do) and of the real things that real men and women do in real life. It also has good comedy dialogue and a nice message at the end -it's not a mere sequence of funny sketches. The characters are real and there is a story behind the whole thing.
Besides, the whole cast is great and you can tell everyone loved being in this movie. For me personally, it was especially delightful to see Rose Byrne in her role.
My score: 8 stars out of 10.